Zeffy is a hosted fundraising platform that charges nonprofits no fees at all, including card processing. It is funded by an optional contribution that donors see at checkout. Donor Merchant is a free WordPress plugin, but you use your own Stripe or PayPal account and pay their processing fees. For a small nonprofit that mainly wants the most money to arrive, Zeffy often costs less.
This page explains Zeffy's model in its own words, shows a worked example, and covers the tradeoffs. Everything about Zeffy was read on Zeffy's own pages in October 2026. Verify current terms with Zeffy before you decide.
How does Zeffy's free model work?
Zeffy pays the processing fees and asks donors to support it. Its pricing page says "Zeffy covers all transaction & credit card fees," and that "Zeffy relies entirely on voluntary contributions from donors. On all forms, donors have the option (but are never obliged) to contribute to Zeffy." It also says "Zeffy costs $0. Not a free tier and not a trial: there is no paid plan above it."
- Who pays processing: Zeffy. The pricing page says "Your nonprofit is never charged for card processing, and neither are your donors."
- The contribution prompt: a separate line at checkout with a suggested amount. Zeffy's help center says donors "can adjust the contribution amount using the dropdown menu displayed during checkout, including setting it to a lower amount or to $0." A donor who paid it by mistake can get it refunded from the confirmation email.
- How often donors contribute: Zeffy says "On average, 2 of 3 donors tip, which covers our costs." Zeffy does not publish the default suggested amount.
- Can the organization turn it off? We found no Zeffy page that says so. Its terms for organizations list as prohibited "messaging designed to unfairly discourage donors from tipping." In March 2026 Zeffy's product team marked complete a public request to make the contribution default to $0. It added a self-serve refund for donors and an "(optional)" label instead, and opened a new request about smaller default amounts.
- Who can use it: Zeffy's help center says you must "Be a non-profit or registered charity in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, or Germany" with a bank account in the organization's name. In the US, "you do not need to be a 501(c)(3), but an EIN is mandatory." Individuals and for-profit businesses are not eligible unless they fundraise for a verified nonprofit.
How do Zeffy and Donor Merchant compare?
| Donor Merchant | Zeffy | |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | $0 | $0 |
| Card processing paid by the organization | Yes: Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ (US domestic cards) or PayPal 2.89% + $0.49 (donations) | No, Zeffy covers it |
| Extra amount the donor is asked for | Optional "cover the fee" box, which the owner can switch off. It goes to processing. | Optional contribution to Zeffy, shown on all forms |
| Where the form runs | Inside your WordPress site | Zeffy's hosted pages, or embedded on your site in an iframe |
| Payment account | Your own Stripe and/or PayPal account | A Stripe connected account Zeffy creates; an existing Stripe account cannot be connected |
| Donor payment methods | Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, US bank debit, some European bank methods, PayPal, Venmo (US) | Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer, check for one-time gifts over $1,000. No PayPal or Venmo. |
| Recurring frequencies | Weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, quarterly, yearly | Monthly, quarterly, yearly |
| Donor changes a recurring gift | Stripe donors update the card or cancel in the donor portal | Donor portal or confirmation email: amount, date, payment method, cancel |
| Receipts | Printable receipts and annual statements | Automatic IRS and CRA receipts, one cumulative year-end receipt for recurring donors |
| Events, ticketing, peer-to-peer, memberships, raffles | - | Yes |
| Donor CRM and email newsletters | Donor list and CSV export; Mailchimp and signed webhooks | Built-in CRM and newsletters |
| Where donor records are stored | Your WordPress database | Zeffy's platform; your data is yours, with 30 days to retrieve it after closing |
| Who can use it | Any WordPress site with a Stripe or PayPal account | Nonprofits in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany |
Zeffy, Stripe and PayPal terms as published October 2026. Fees and features change, so verify with Zeffy, Stripe and PayPal.
What does each one cost? A worked example
The assumptions are made up but typical. A US nonprofit raises $20,000 a year online in 400 one-time card gifts of $50. All cards are domestic. It has no Stripe nonprofit discount, and no donor covers the fee unless stated.
| Setup | Fee per $50 gift | Organization pays per year | Organization receives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zeffy | $0 | $0 | $20,000 |
| Donor Merchant + Stripe, no one covers the fee | $1.75 | $700 | $19,300 |
| Donor Merchant + Stripe, half of donors cover the fee | $1.75 on 200 gifts | $350 | $19,650 |
| Donor Merchant + Stripe bank debit (ACH) | $0.40 | $160 | $19,840 |
The math: Stripe lists "2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards", so a $50 gift costs $1.45 plus $0.30. Stripe's ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% with a $5.00 cap. A donor who covers the fee on a $50 card gift adds $1.80, because the fee is charged on the larger total too.
Zeffy wins this example by $700 a year with no fee recovery. Stripe offers discounted processing to eligible nonprofits but publishes no rate, so we have not counted one. PayPal's published rate for confirmed charities is 1.99% plus $0.49 on approval, about $1.49 on a $50 gift. Neither brings the cost to zero.
On Zeffy, part of the cost moves to donors who choose to contribute. That money goes to Zeffy, not to your mission. Whether your donors mind is a judgment call only you can make.
What are the tradeoffs with Zeffy?
Your donors see the contribution prompt
Every donor meets a suggested contribution to Zeffy, with an amount Zeffy sets. Zeffy says two in three donors contribute. Some organizations would rather not ask donors for anything beyond the gift. Zeffy suggests explaining the model on your form, with wording such as "Zeffy is funded solely by contributions from donors like you."
Your donor data lives on Zeffy's platform
Zeffy's terms say "You own all right, title and interest in and to all Organization Data," and you can export payments, transactions, payouts, tax receipts and contacts. The records still sit in Zeffy's system, not your website's database. Saved cards for recurring gifts sit in the connected Stripe account Zeffy creates for you, which cannot be an account you already have. That matters mostly if you leave later (see below).
How Zeffy fits a WordPress site
Zeffy offers a WordPress plugin with two shortcodes, one that embeds the form and one that opens it in a pop-up. Either way the payment form is Zeffy's, in an iframe. Zeffy's help center notes that embedded forms "do not display your campaign description, images, logo, or nonprofit name", so you write that part on your own page. Zeffy also says Apple Pay and Google Pay are not shown on embedded forms. Gifts are recorded in Zeffy, not in your WordPress database, so other plugins on your site cannot see them.
Payment methods
Zeffy's help center lists PayPal and Venmo as not currently available. If many of your donors give by PayPal, that is worth testing.
What does Donor Merchant not do?
- It only works on WordPress, and you maintain the site.
- You need your own Stripe and/or PayPal account and pay their processing fees.
- No events or ticketing, peer-to-peer pages, text-to-give, auctions or matching-gift lookup.
- Only Stripe recurring donors can update a card or cancel in the donor portal today.
- No built-in newsletter tool. It syncs to Mailchimp or sends webhooks.
Who should pick which?
Pick Zeffy if you want the organization to pay nothing, you are eligible in one of its six countries, and you are comfortable with donors seeing a contribution request. It also suits you if you run events, raffles or peer-to-peer campaigns and want hosted pages rather than software on your own site. For many small nonprofits this is the cheaper choice.
Pick Donor Merchant if you already run a WordPress site and want the form, donor records and receipts inside it. It also fits if you want your own Stripe or PayPal account so recurring donors stay with you, if you need PayPal, Venmo or weekly giving, or if you would rather not ask donors to support a platform. Expect to pay processing fees, less whatever donors choose to cover with fee recovery.
How do you move from Zeffy to a WordPress plugin?
Your history moves and your recurring gifts do not. Export payments and contacts from Zeffy, then import them into Donor Merchant, which never emails donors about imported gifts. Active recurring plans cannot be moved by any plugin, because the cards sit in the processor account that created them. For Zeffy, that is the account Zeffy created. Keep Zeffy running and ask monthly donors to sign up again on the new form. Cancel each old plan only after the new one has charged. The full order of steps, including a donor email you can adapt, is in how to leave a donation platform and keep your donors.
You can install Donor Merchant in Stripe test mode and try it before changing anything. Download Donor Merchant
Sources
- Zeffy: Pricing and FAQ (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: What is the contribution made towards Zeffy? (read October 2026)
- Zeffy feedback board: Voluntary Contribution Defaults to $0, product team reply of March 11, 2026 (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: How to talk to your donors about Zeffy (read October 2026)
- Zeffy: Terms and Conditions of Use for organizations (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: Is my organization eligible? (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: Which countries and regions can nonprofits use Zeffy in? (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: Connecting an existing Stripe account (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: How to add your Zeffy campaign to a WordPress website (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: Supported payment methods and Payment methods we don't support (yet) (read October 2026)
- Zeffy: Donation platform for nonprofits (recurring frequencies, donor portal, payouts; read October 2026)
- Zeffy: Automated donation receipts (read October 2026)
- Zeffy: Peer-to-peer, ticketing and donor management pages (read October 2026)
- Zeffy Help: Reports and exporting data (read October 2026)
- Stripe: Pricing (US) (read October 2026)
- Stripe Support: Fee discount for nonprofit organizations (read October 2026)
- PayPal: Merchant fees (US) (read October 2026)